Deskin acquitted of murder of Dustin Englebrecht

Friday

A Mason County jury has acquitted Randy Deskin of the murder of Dustin Englebrecht.

For further details of this developing story, check the Pekin Daily Times website later today or read Saturday's print edition.

A Mason County jury has acquitted Randy Deskin of the murder of Dustin Englebrecht.

Deskin, 34, of Green Valley, was charged with three counts of first-degree murder for allegedly killing Englebrecht at Englebrecht’s rural Mason City home on Aug. 28, 2009, and burying him in a shallow grave behind an outbuilding on the property.

Mason County Sheriff’s Department deputies arrested Deskin in January as Deskin was set to get out of Stateville Correctional Facility on parole after serving several months for aggravated battery.

Mason County State's Attorney Kristen Miller had presented the jury with a circumstantial case that depended on incriminating statements Deskin had allegedly made. The defense, however, countered that Deskin never made those statements and suggested that Englebrecht's fiance or his associate Wade Bonk may have committed the murder, arguing that the state had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

For further details of this developing story, check the Pekin Daily Times website later today or read Saturday's print edition.

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